AICPA to Release Paper
on Forensic Accounting Issues
In 2004, the AICPA Forensic & Litigation Services Committee issued a discussion paper entitled Forensic Services, Audits & Corporate Governance: Bridging the Gap. This memorandum explored a number of questions about the use of forensic procedures and forensic specialists in the audit process.
After consideration of comments received during a public roundtable and written submissions on the memorandum, the committee concluded that there was a lack of understanding about how forensic procedures and forensic specialists can be utilized. As a result, the committee concluded that there is a need among audit committees and throughout the accounting community for a more thorough understanding of the nature of forensic procedures and the extent of their potential use.
In response to this opinion, the Fraud Task Force of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has now concluded a special report, Forensic Procedures and Specialists: Useful Tools and Techniques, to discuss the emerging needs in the accounting profession for the use of Forensic Specialists and Forensic Tools and Techniques. The report, authored by a panel of forensic professionals is intended to provide a useful insight into how and when forensic procedures can be used to uncover and/or investigate suspected fraud in an organization. The paper is scheduled for release on November 1, 2006, and will be available through the AICPA website, www.aicpa.org.
The Business Valuation, Forensic and Litigation Services section of the Institute is committed to expanding its educational and training materials in the fraud area, with a variety of important topics scheduled to be discussed in future papers. This initiative follows the 2005 release of the Management Override of Internal Controls: The Achilles Heel of Fraud Prevention paper which addressed the Audit Committee’s consideration of the risk of management override of controls, leading to fraud existing in financial statements.
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